How Emotionally Intelligent People Use the “Chicken Chicken Rule” to Make Better Decisions

Emotionally intelligent people seem to make better decisions than others. How did they do that?

has an easy answer. But explaining it requires us to detour 250 words of narrative to prove it.

I hope you will bear with me because it is very useful and after years of writing for Inc.com and teaching myself emotional intelligence, I have learned to take classes where I find them.

I found this in an unlikely place: through an interview with Chick-fil-A, the man in charge of franchise selection.

Yes, Chick-fil-A: fast-food chicken chain that serves gourmet sandwiches (I think), no Sunday policy (their choice) — as it happens, This is one of the strangest problems in American business.

Why do you want to have a chicken pheasant?

question? Chick-fil-A receives about 60,000 franchise applications each year, but they only plan to open 75 to 80 restaurants.

This puts their acceptance rate at about 0.13% and trying to find needles in a haystack, diamonds in rough, and whatever other cliché you want to use to paint a picture.

Numerically, getting a Chick-fil-A franchise is better than getting into Harvard (3.2% acceptance rate) or becoming a U.S. Navy SEAL (1.5% success rate).

is actually this so ridiculously selective – it’s funny the level made me go a few years ago Research the competition of this company.

The reason why so many people apply for the Chick-fil-A franchise will occupy another post. (Actually, I wrote that article back in 2019.) In short, the franchise fee is low, and the annual income is said to be high.

Anyway, what emotionally intelligent people get out of this culinary, entrepreneurial pastime has to do with a problem Chick-fil-A has used to shrink its massive applicant pool at every stage.

As Maureen Donahue, Executive Director of Franchise Choice at Chick-fil-A told me a few years ago, they ask this question over and over again:

“Why open a chicken chain restaurant?”

More and more profound

Do you see what I mean? Simple – but not necessarily easy.

“We can extract various layers from these kinds of questions,” Donahue told me. “We’re always curious about what they come to the table with, but it’s definitely how the response shifts and matures. It actually becomes more profound in most cases as they react later in the selection process.”

Now, has anyone at Chick-fil-A mentioned the phrase “emotional intelligence”?

I have no idea.

But with due respect to all who run Chick-fil-A – I’m sure it’s a tough job and I’ll absolutely suck – I am amazed It’s a fact that the strongest “ why are you doing this? ” question I’ve come across during my years of studying business, entrepreneurship and emotional intelligence, Appears in the context of someone who chooses to run a fast food chain.

I think if you want to solve a problem, sometimes it helps to study the entities whose survival depends on solving the problem.

Anyway, since I discovered this technique by learning about chicken pheasant, I call it the pheasant rule. And, I think people with high emotional intelligence will recognize its role:

Every major decision

So tell me: why don’t people use this questioning strategy before making any big decisions in life? Well actually, whatever they call it, people with high emotional intelligence are almost certain do use a version of it.

Indeed, it applies everywhere: career decisions, business choices, relationships — basically every big decision. Imagine forcing yourself to answer over and over again:

Tracking Answers

good question. To be fair, if I had forced myself to answer these questions truthfully early in life, I might have made some decisions differently.

But keep in mind that at Chick-fil-A, as I understand it, this is actually a three-part, repetitive process:

1. They ask the person making the application to consider this.
2. They force him or her to repeat.
3. They then track the answers over time, looking for changes and growth.

   Emotionally intelligent people will realize that these are processes are equally important parts of, and they can take many forms, such as adaptations.

4. In practice, this could mean establishing a conversation with a trusted confidant who will Asks you questions as you explore and helps you pick answers to big decisions.
5. If that’s not convenient or practical, maybe it means answering the “why” question over and over again by keeping a journal , and then look back at how your “early self” responded.
6. Maybe it also means asking other people who made similar decisions what motivated them, and check that you want to make Whether the reasons for similar choices are also similar.

It is important to ask the “why” question. Repeated questions are important. Also, it’s important to research the answers and play the devil’s advocate.

A particularly important rule

See, if one reads this article, and is more Diligently considering whether to borrow money for grad school (a timely example), or whether to pursue a career primarily because of the expectations of his or her parents or advisors – or for that matter, really force yourself to think hard about the relationship they’re in Fit them (sorry if this is close to home) then I feel like I’ve done my job.

Most of the EQ rules I’ve shared on Inc.com over the years have focused on the intersection between your emotions, other people’s emotions, and objective facts – use all of these to improve Your probability target of achieving your goal.

But this one is really more personal and maybe more important.

Chick-fil-A rules are about guarding against your emotions and how they might lead you astray and make less-than-ideal decisions—often realized when it’s too late arrive.

As I wrote in my free ebook, 9 Smart Habits of Highly Emotionally Intelligent People , most people like to have options, but they don’t actually like to make decisions.

That’s all. The Chick-fil-A rule is about making better decisions. It’s simple, but rarely easy.

Maybe that’s why it works.